Apple quietly improves screen on 13″ unibody MacBook (Updated)

The entry-level white MacBook isn't the only machine getting a tweak from …

Apple looks to have quietly replaced the LCD screen it was using on the unibody MacBook with an improved part. The updated screens began showing up in MacBooks made since the end of April, according to a report from Computerworld.

The unibody MacBook introduced last October originally shipped with an LGPhilips LP133WX2-TLC1, a newer version of the same LGPhilips LP133WX1-TLA1 used in the original MacBooks. It's no Cinema Display, to be sure—Computerworld characterizes it as "not that great." But it seems Apple saw fit to change the panel to an AU Optronics B133EW04 V.3, the same or similar screen Apple puts in its MacBookAir.

You can check to see what model number your unibody MacBook (or any Apple notebook) has by running the following command in Terminal:ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

The general consensus is that this screen is of significantly improved quality over the LGPhilips panel. Specifically, the screen has deeper blacks, which generally results in much better contrast and improved color accuracy, especially when viewing dark, low-key images or videos. The screen is also said to have a much wider viewing angle.

Though we imagine it's a bit of a downer for those that got a MacBook before the update, to be fair, the LGPhilips panel is by no means crap. However, this change seems to support the notion that Apple may start marketing the 13" unibody MacBook as a 13" MacBook Pro. Then again, for any number of supply chain management reasons Apple might have needed to make the switch, but any improvement is a welcome one, especially one that—like the recent white MacBook tweaks—doesn't cost any extra money.

UPDATE: A couple of readers have mentioned in both comments and e-mails that they have MacBooks from before April that have the updated screen. One commenter even says his MacBook from 2006 has an AU Optronics screen as well. With just these few anecdotal points of data it's hard to pin down a clear trend. Clearly Apple is second-sourcing the panels, though historical data for MacBooks show that a vast majority have LGPhilips panels.